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Notes from the Fiesta Bowl

TEMPE, Ariz. — Playing for the first as a Bowl Championship Series participant, Kansas State dug an early 21-0 hole against Ohio State and could not recover, falling 35-28 in Sun Devil Stadium.

The Wildcats crawled within seven, only to allow two third-quarter touchdowns to the Buckeyes, who were led by quarterback Craig Krenzel. Krenzel was named the offensive player of the game after firing four touchdown passes, including two to Michael Jenkins.

Kansas State quarterback Ell Roberson, whose arrest the day before the game did not keep him out of the starting lineup, scored on two touchdown bursts. Roberson set a Fiesta Bowl record with 51 pass attempts (since broken by Texas’ Colt McCoy with 59 attempts in 2009), completing 20 for 294 yards, with one interception.

Darren Sproles came into the game averaging 139 yards rushing for the Wildcats, but was limited to 38 yards on 13 carries, with one touchdown. That left Sproles just shy of the 2,000-yard mark on the season. He finished with 1,986 yards in 15 games as K-State finished 11-4 after upsetting No. 1 Oklahoma for the Big 12 championship.

KEY MATCHUP

Oregon OT Tyler Johnstone

vs. K-State DEMeshak Williams

The most disruptive force for Kansas State defensively was Williams (6-foot-3, 245 pounds), a senior who led the Big 12 with 9.5 sacks. He also recorded 13.5 tackles for loss. In addition, Williams often got into passing lanes and deflected passes if he did not get enough penetration to tackle an opposing quarterback.

Johnstone (6-6, 292) faces a huge task on the left side of the Oregon line protecting quarterback Marcus Mariota. The good news for the Ducks is Mariota is not only slippery, but fast. If he breaks containment, he can get yards in chunks.

Sophomore Jake Fisher (6-6, 294) is the Ducks’ other tackle. The lack of experience for Oregon up front is worth noting since the bookend opposite Williams on the Wildcats’ defensive front is another senior, Adam Davis (6-0, 259). Davis also was productive this season, recording 7.5 sacks and 12 tackles for loss.

Edge: Kansas State

Fiesta trivia

Q: The 2004 clash between Kansas State and Ohio State was the longest Fiesta Bowl on record. What was the time of game?

A: 4 hours, 0 minutes.

Last word

“They have a good offense, but we aren’t going to get nervous about it. A lot of the things they do are similar to some of the other teams we’ve already seen. With their spread offense, we are used to that.’’